Funeral Wisdom of the World

Our friends from various places around the country help me heavily by responding to our web analytics company by e-mail or by sending regular snail mail. I want to thank them all. Lately, I was receiving many pieces of a beautiful funeral poetry. With a few exceptions, I never really had a chance to post these funeral poems in this blog. I am gonna change that and publish several poems in a row. I would like to start with beautiful poem from “Holy sonnets” written by famous John Donne, that was sent to me by a funeral director. There is no need to comment on any of these poems, they are beautiful as they are….

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure: then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

In my blog about top famous composers, I describe mostly outstanding creative people who had God given talents in spite of the harsh times that they were living. Luckily, not everybody is born a genius. There were other composers. I would not call them minor talents or diminish their creativity in any way. They also deserve the utmost respect and gratitude of the following generations. One of these dedicated and gifted people was Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia. I found out about her when I was doing my regular research for a local web analytics company. Thanks to her, we know today about giants of music like J.S. Bach and others…

Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia was one of eight children of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia. She was a younger sister of the famous Frederick II, King of Prussia and she was born in 1723 in Berlin. Among her other famous close relatives were
Wilhelmine, Margravine of Bayreuth, Louise Ulrika, Queen of Sweden and Augustus William, Prince of Prussia. Anna was eleven years younger than her brother Frederick, and would have been seven years old when he made his attempt to run away from home, after being humiliated by his father. Both children were musically inclined, but for Anna formal musical instruction was only possible after the death of her father, who hated music with all his heart. Music was her secret consolation against his cruelty to her - in his bursts of rage he would often drag her across a room by the hair. Fortunately, her mother encouraged Anna to learn how to play the harpsichord, flute, and violin. And she received her first lessons from her brother, future king.

It seems that princess was a very brave and passionate woman. When she was twenty years old, Anna met Friedrich von der Trenck, whose adventurous life In nspired works by literary giants such as Victor Hugo and Voltaire. In 1743, Anna secretly married him. When her brother, who was already a king, discovered she had married secretly and was pregnant, he annulled her marriage and imprisoned her husband for ten years. Then Frederick exiled her in anger to Quedlinburg Abbey, a place where many aristocratic women were sent to give birth to children out of wedlock. However, Anna continued to correspond with Friedrich von der Trenck until her death.

Anna became the Abbess of Quedlinburg in 1755, although she chose to spend most of her time in Berlin, where she devoted herself to music, and became known as a musical patron and composer. In 1758, she began a serious study of musical theory and composition, engaging as her tutor Johann Philipp Kirnberger, a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. She composed chamber music, such as flute sonatas, and wrote music to Ramler’s Passion cantata “The Death of Jesus”. This was also her favorite piece. Only a few of her works have survived, and it is highly likely that she destroyed many of her compositions. After all, she did described herself as being very self-critical person. In addition to that, princess Anna was also a collector of old music, preserving over 600 volumes of works by notables such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, George Philipp Telemann, and others. This act in itself was a significant contribution to Western culture. Her library was split between East Germany and West Germany after World War II, and despite serious damage by fire in 2004, still survives today.

So the question arises - what nation introduced ancient Europeans to astrology? Some funeral directors are sure that it was no other but ancient Greeks. They say that it happened right after the occupation of Egypt by Alexander the Great. As you may know, in 332 B.C., Egypt came under Greek rule and influence, and it was in Alexandrian Egypt where horoscope astrology first appeared. The endeavor to trace the horoscope of the individual from the position of the planets and stars at the time of birth represents the most significant contribution of the Greeks to astrology. This system can be labeled as horoscope astrology, because it employed the use of the ascendant, otherwise known as the horoskopos in Greek. Although developed under Hellenistic rule, it was in large measure derived from the teachings of the Babylonians and the Egyptians.

The system was carried to such a degree of perfection that later ages made but few additions of an essential character of drawing up of the individual horoscope by the Greek astrologers. Particularly important in the development of horoscope astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy , whose works laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. Under the Greeks and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, and Signs of the zodiac were rationalized and their function set down in a way that has changed little to the present day. Ptolemy’s work on astronomy was also the basis of Western teachings on the subject for the next thirteen hundred years.

Around 130 B.C. another ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus created the theory of the precession of the equinoxes, for a knowledge of which among the Babylonians we find no definite proof; but such a single advancement in pure science did not prevent the Greeks from developing in a most elaborate manner the theory of the influence of the planets upon the fate of the individual. Ancient Greeks identified Babylonia or Chaldea with astrology. The expression Chaldean wisdom became among Greeks and Romans the synonym of divination through the planets and stars, and it is perhaps not surprising that in the course of time to be known as a Chaldean carried with it frequently the suspicion of charlatanry and of more or less willful deception.

As you may well know, my friend and I are launching a new site dedicated to zodiac secrets.  As far as I know, astrology of ancient Egyptians appeared slightly later in ancient Babylon. The outcome of this historical competition is still not clear, because the archaeologists still did not make up their minds. But we know, that astrology has a very ancient history in Egypt, with star charts found there going back to 4,200BC.

Egyptian astrology was dominated by the combination of the sun and the dog-star Sirius, as it foretold when in the year the Nile river would flood, bringing fertility and life to what was otherwise barren desert. The pyramids of Egypt also reflect the importance given to astrology, as they are oriented towards the North pole of the sky and had a dual role as burial place for the pharaohs and astrological calculators. Various pharaohs took an interest in astrology. Ramses II or Ozymandias as he was traditionally better known, was credited with fixing the positions of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Some zodiac signs are said to be Egyptian in origin, including Aries, Leo, and possibly Gemini. Anyways, the first examples of the zodiac as we know it today appeared in ancient Egypt.

You live - you learn. What else can I say? While researching funeral rites and cultural funeral traditions of nations all over the planet an interesting story came my way. The story of excarnation, which was, I must say, a very exotic way of saying goodbye to their dead by ancient Zoroastrians.

In order to be frief, I must explain that excarnation is the practice of removing the flesh from the corpse without interment. Ancient Zoroastrians traditionally left their dead on Towers of Silence, where the flesh of the corpses was let to be devoured by vultures and other carrion-eating birds. Alternatively, excarnation can also mean butchering the corpse by hand to remove the flesh.

Let me tell you about other ancient ways of dealing with the dead. There was another ancient practice that was called gibbeting. It was the ancient practice of publicly displaying remains of criminals. And how about hanging coffins? These are the coffins which have been placed on cliffs. They can be found in various locations, including China and the Philippines. And there is also a sky burial that involves placing the body on a mountaintop. Who knows, maybe, in future we will have a space burial as well. Remeber, sci-fi movies, when they fire the coffin into space?

As I was traveling through the Western states working on the assignment of my web analytics company, I did not have much time to get back to one of my favorite subjects - history of astrology. And there was nothing I could really do until I got to Arizona and could catch my breath. That very first evening I opened my laptop and got into some heavy reading. I just had to know what was going with astrology during Middle Ages. Well, Astrology became part of the Kabalistic lore of Jews and Christians, and came to be the substance of the astrology of the Middle Ages. Even church prelates and nobility were using astrologers’ services. And at that time everybody believed that the position of heavenly bodies influenced the affairs of mankind. In fact, astrology was placed on a similar footing of equality with astronomy and other sciences.

During the Middle Ages astrologer was proudly called “mathematicus”, which translated from Latin meant simply mathematician. During Middle Ages this term was used to denote a person proficient in astrology, astronomy, and mathematics. In those strange times astrologers were dominant by the terror they inspired, and by the martyrdom they endured when their predictions occasionally were either too true or too false. And the book Liber Astronomicus written by a couple of Italian astrologers who were famous in XIII century Europe was proclaimed to be the most important astrological work. To tell the truth, medieval and Renaissance astrologers did not give themselves the trouble of reading the stars, but contented themselves with telling fortunes by faces. They practiced chiromancy, and relied on afterwards drawing a horoscope to suit.

During the Renaissance, a new form of astrology evolved in which court astrologers would compliment their use of horoscopes with genuine discoveries about the nature of the universe as astronomers. How many of you know that Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, were themselves practicing astrologers? These guys overturned the old astrological order of the time.

If somebody would ask me to choose my favorite composer, first name that would pop up in my head would be “Antonio Vivaldi”. If I think of appropriate words for Vivaldi, there are no others but “pure genius”. Since the beginning of my career as a Web Analyst in my local web analytics company,  I did not stop listening to Vivaldi’s masterpieces for a moment. And each time I find something new, deep and profound in his music. I even started my blog about life and death of famous classical composers because of my fondness of Vivaldi. And I am not alone. My fascination of Vivaldi is shared by many who studied the life of a great composer in details. There is so much more to Vivaldi that meets the eye.  Many facts somehow were left behind in the most history books that I read.

They say that success is shorter than life. This expression can be used to describe the life of Antonio Vivaldi, He had known windfall of luck, kings and other royalty were his patrons, but he ended his life as a pauper.

It goes without saying that universally everybody knows about his masterpiece “The Four Seasons” - a series of four violin concertos. It is his best known work and a highly popular Baroque music piece. Vivaldi was a not only a baroque music composer, and a famous virtuoso violinist, but also a Venetian priest.

That’s true. Vivaldi was ordained as a priest at 25, and soon nicknamed “The Red Priest”, possibly because of his red hair. He became master of violin at an orphanage called the Devout Hospital of Mercy in Venice. There were only four such institutions in Venice. Their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned, orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by the Republic of Venice. The boys learned a trade and had to leave the orphanage at age 15. The girls received musical education and the most talented stayed and became members of the orphanage’s renowned orchestra and choir. For those kids, Vivaldi wrote most of his concertos, cantatas, and sacred music.

His creation of “The Four Seasons” became a revolution in musical conception. Through music Vivaldi showed us flowing creeks, singing birds, barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, silent nights, hunting parties, frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and burning fires. Each concerto was associated with a Vivaldi sonnet, describing the scenes depicted in the music.

Like many other composers of the time, his life ended in financial difficulties. His compositions no longer held the high esteem they once did in Venice. He went “out of fashion”. Changing musical tastes quickly made his creations outmoded. Trying to make his ends meet Vivaldi had to sell off a lot of his manuscripts, practically for pennies.. Then he had to sell off more manuscripts to pay for his move to Vienna. But it did not really work out for him there too. Poor and abandoned, the old composer died. He was buried in a simple grave in Vienna, forgotten for many hundred of years, till they re-discovered him in twentieth century.

As I already mentioned, I am a big fan of astrology. But I did not have the idea how it progressed in the United States.  The birth of modern astrology took place in the first half of the 20th century. That is what I learned from the annals of local web analytics company.

So, that is how it was in the beginning… In the first half of twentieth century a great surge of popular interest in astrology took place in the US. A very popular astrologer Evangeline Adams from New York City helped quench the public’s thirst for astrology readings with many accurate forecasts. Adams was even arrested and charged with illegal fortunetelling in 1914. But the case was dismissed when Adams correctly read the horoscope of the judge’s son provided with just his birth date. Her acquittal set a precedent, establishing that astrologers can practice freely and was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

The wave of interest towards astrology even increased by wide distribution of astrological journals, text, papers, and textbooks throughout the United States. Astrologers became celebrities, like, for example, Alan Leo, Sepharial, Paul Cheisnard and Charles Carter. The serious and complex writings on astrological practice and concepts in America progressed into a new period of popular. Many complex astrological materials were simplified to attempt to carve a clear line through points of contention and controversy.

Great public interest in astrology made publishers realize that millions of readers were interested in astrological forecasts and the interest grew ever more intense with the advent of America’s entry into the First World War. The war heightened interest in astrology. Journalists began to write articles based on character descriptions and astrological forecasts were published in newspapers based on the one and only factor known to the public: the month and day of birth, as taken from the position of the Sun when a person is born. The result of this practice led to modern-day publishing of Sun-Sign astrology columns and expanded to some astrological books and magazines in second half of the twentieth century.

I never exactly knew what it meant. It even seemed like a silly expression, at first glance. What are funeral alternatives anyways? But a funeral director proved me wrong. He gave me a brief but powerful explanation.

Well, you already know, that human bodies are not always buried, and many cultures may not bury their dead in every case. In most cases these funeral alternatives are still intended to maintain respect for the dead, but some are intended to prolong the display of remains. Here is a couple of examples…

Ash jump: skydivers often elect to have their cremated remains released by their loved ones during free fall. Burial at sea is the practice of depositing the body in an ocean or other large body of water instead of soil. It may be disposed in a coffin, or without one. Funerary cannibalism is the practice of eating the remains. This may be for many reasons: for example to partake of their strength, to spiritually “close the circle” by reabsorbing their life into the family or clan, to annihilate an enemy. For example, the Yanomami people have the habit of cremating the remains and then eating the ashes with banana paste.

From my multiple researches for local web analytics company I knew that, in addition to burying human remains, many human cultures also regularly bury animal remains. Pets and other animals of emotional significance are often ceremonially buried. Most families bury deceased pets on their own properties, mainly in a yard, with a shoe box or any other type of container served as a coffin.

This is all that I knew about pet burials, basically. But a funeral director told me more about this subject. It turns out that ancient Egyptians are known to have mummified and buried cats, which they considered deities. And humans are not always the only species to bury their dead. Chimpanzees and elephants are known to throw leaves and branches over fallen members of their family groups.